Second Grade planning

So....we're changing gears again.

Thankfully it's only January and we're not scheduled to finish first grade until sometime in April.

Jasmine had requested a science focus for next year.
No, that's not completely true. She asked that the only thing we do next year was science.

Thankfully, her favorite part of science is my reading to her. So though I am making plans for more activities and experiments, I know the primary requirement is good books. I can do books!

I've decided to go through history, starting with the Biblical account of creation, and through to modern history, and we'll cover things as they were discovered/invented. So we'll cover gravity when we learn about Isaac Newton.
It means making a lot of decisions...do we cover astonomy when we do ancient Greece, with Aristarchus, or do we wait until we get to Copernicus?? I haven't yet figured that part out, but I did find an awesome book that may help steer me:   I just got notification that it's been shipped. I can't wait to look through it and see how much it steers things.


Our main book is going to be the Usborne Internet-Linked Science Encyclopedia (Usborne Encyclopedia).

I've also found a couple books for next to nothing (love buying used books!!) with tons of fun child-friendly experiments. I think we should have a fun year!!

Excellent idea, Mommy!

Yesterday, I was told, was the best day of school, ever.
Both Jasmine and Bekah told me separately that they loved it. Bekah told me school had been fun, and that I'd had an excellent idea. Yes, my 4-3/4-year-old daughter used the word excellent.
And Jasmine told me it was the most fun day of school she'd ever had.

And what was this wonderful thing I'd let them do??

We'd made Goobleck.
At first it was on the watery side but they had a blast:

I added more cornstarch and it was even cooler (so cool that I forgot to take pictures).

Even Josh thought it was cool when he tried it this morning.

It's messy. We have cornstarch all over the floor, counters and the stovetop. But it's been a lot of fun, trying to decide if it's a solid or a liquid!

*****important*****
If you make this, Don't put it down the drain when you're done. It will clog your drains. Throw it in the garbage!! (or let it dry and add water again for more fun someday down the road!)

Science

A confession: I've been a bit of a slacker with science experiments/activities.

But I've started to turn that around, and we all enjoy the activities. Since the language arts takes so much less time, energy and stress, it's okay to plan for things that take a little more prep work on my part!

Yesterday we did a bunch of activities about air, and what air can do. Our favorite: racing water drops across a piece of waxed paper!

(Bekah was involved too, but she just didn't make the shot)
The water droplets broke up as they were pushed across the finish line, but they all had a blast!

We haven't gotten this week's hideaway even started yet, but there's still time. It's only Thursday afternoon!!